A jury has found that an agency responsible for a field trip in which a 12-year-old girl drowned was negligent, awarding the child's parents $3 million in damages.

An eight-member Pima County Superior Court jury deliberated only 45 minutes yesterday before unanimously finding in favor of the parents of Amy Wang.

The girl drowned June 12 in a 7-foot-deep pool of murky water in lower Sabino Canyon after a counselor supervising the outing went wading with a number of other children.

The jurors found negligence on the part of CODAC Behavioral Health Services. Its counselor, Manuel Cota, was the supervisor but was not named a defendant in the trial.

The jury awarded Amy's father, Xueliang Wang, and her mother, Ping Gu, $1.5 million each in damages. Steven Copple, an attorney for the Wangs, said the city of Tucson agreed to pay the couple a total of $500,000 in an out-of-court settlement reached shortly before the trial began April 16.

Amy's parents were ''really, really emotionally worn out, devastated,'' Copple said. ''They're going to be pleased that this jury validated Amy's worth.''

''The American justice system does work,'' Amy's father, Xueliang Wang, said in a statement issued after the verdict through one of his lawyers.

CODAC declined an offer to settle, Copple said.

''It is extremely unfortunate that this tragic accident occurred,'' said Neal Cash, CODAC's executive director.

Defense attorney Jeff King said he had no comment.